Lynness: May (April) read

    I browsed through the 641.5's at the library yesterday to come up with something for my May read.  I wanted it to be more than a cookbook- I have enjoyed (and recommend) "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"  because of the story line along with scientific side notes and recipes.  I wanted something similar- recipes that have a connection to a story.  I picked up and put back many things and finally found Hallelujah! The Welcome Table by Maya Angelou.  I read the whole thing yesterday.  It was a series of vignettes all connected to food; after each she shares the recipes.  I'm not sure which recipe I'll try: I think I would like to go outside of my normal eating experience and maybe try something creole or moroccan-based, but then after a lot of effort I mightn't like it and there are some sumptuous southern comfort-food recipes that, while not exotic or haute cuisine, I think I would really enjoy.
    I also reserved a copy of Deceptively Delicious at my library- I had heard of it before and Lulu reminded me of it.  I do some things already- add carrots or spinach to Vita-Mix smoothies, or a pureed paste (Vita-Mix again) of veggies and beans and wheat to my meatloaves, but I wouldn't mind getting more ideas.  Happy reading and eating (they go together quite well)!

Lulu: My May read

Hello, lovely ladies! My May read will be to find a recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. She hides vegetables in foods that are supposed to be really delicious to children. So we'll see if it really works. My boys don't really mind vegetables, usually, but I want to try it and see if I can taste the difference--and if it bothers me. And just a sidenote: Phill's 30th birthday is May 3rd, and Savanna's 1st is May 31st! I can't believe I will have a 30-year-old husband and a 1-year-old daughter, not to mention an almost-3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy! In all my imaginings, I was never this specific. It's cool! It's exciting.

I also had to blog about something I've been doing with the boys, because I've enjoyed the result so much. I talked to Abby about reading chapter books to the boys, and she gave me some really good advice--she said to try the chosen book for a good week before I decide whether it'll work out or not. She also said that even if they seem like they're not listening, chances are that they really are listening and enjoying it. So I started with one of my favorite authors, and started reading The BFG by Roald Dahl to the boys. And I was so amazed! They are (mostly) quiet when I read, they understand a lot more than I realized they would, and they laugh their little hearts out at several points. (The only "problem", if you can even call it that, is that Jaxon for a while thought that he was supposed to repeat after me like we do during our family scripture reading. It was pretty hilarious to hear him imitating not only my words, but also my voice.) I was so worried that they wouldn't understand the gist of the story because of certain words they don't know, but I think I've severely underestimated their ability to either guess the meaning of those harder words, or they just know so much more than I think. Reed really enjoys the illustrations, and both he and Jaxon laugh robustly at words like "frobscottle" and "snozzcumbers" and "whizzpopping". I've also enjoyed the fact that I really love the book I'm reading to them, so it certainly keeps my attention, which means that the boys get plenty of reading time with me each night. It makes me feel like a good mom, and a good friend, and just overall so happy! One other very nostalgic side to all this is that (brother) Reed read The BFG, The Twits, The Enormous Crocodile, and Matilda (all books by Roald Dahl) to me, Kate, and Maddie when I was around 7 and 8 years old. So I feel like I'm carrying on a very tender family tradition.

I'll report back once I've tried a recipe, and I'll keep y'all posted as to our next book choice for the boys!

Rae: May assignment

First a happy birthday shout out to our dear brother, uncle, father and Dad-in-law (as the case may be)! It's hard to believe that April is almost over...we are loving the beautiful flowers that are blooming in the yard and we have planted our little garden. Spring is truly here...although it did snow for a while yesterday.

I hope those of you who wandered over to the Newbery link were benefited by what you discovered. I enjoyed looking at the titles from past years. I would encourage you to take the time to familiarize your children with some of those classic titles. Some of my fondest reading memories revolve around them!

But on to the May non-fiction assignment...should you choose to accept it. Your task is to find a cookbook, preferably one new to you, read or peruse it and share a recipe with us. Hopefully you will have tried said recipe and can report on its success or failure. [I have a cookbook that I just love, but the recipes are way too bland for me. I always end up doctoring the recipes when I make them a second time.]

Happy reading (and cooking)!

A Tale of Two Houses

I thought y'all would find this funny/interesting, if you haven't already seen it. Since this was put out there into the webisphere, supposedly the owner of House #1 has changed the house to be more environmentally friendly. But only after it came to everyone's attention. Makes me chuckle.

A Tale of Two Houses

House #1

A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern 'snow belt' area. It's in the South.

House #2

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every 'green' feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the 'environmentalist' Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

An 'inconvenient truth' indeed. You can verify it at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

I just thought I would post that since we've had previous discussions about global warming and Al Gore, etc.

Lynness: Jane Austen and freedom

So... this week PBS finished the series of Jane Austen movies on
Masterpiece Theater. I've watched them all as well as read (or, in
several cases re-read for the umpteenth time) the novels along the way.
I was thinking about the constraints of the time on relationships and on
women in particular and thinking about how grateful I am to be living in
this time in this country. Nathan's has a co-worker who refers to all
of the works of Jane Austen as "bonnets and forbidden love." In all of
her novels there is at least one relationship that is "imprudent"-
someone looks down on it because of lack of wealth or social standing or
occupation. In the last of the PBS movies, "Sense and Sensibility,"
Edward wants to be a minister, but that is not high-class enough for his
family; neither is his fiancee- she has neither wealth nor is she of a
high social class and they prefer both. They disinherit him when he
won't break off the engagement. I was thinking back to when Nathan
spoke to my father about marrying me. Neither Nathan's family's (mine
too, now!! yay!) position, or his income or his employment were asked
about. They didn't even meet him until Wednesday evening before our
early Friday afternoon wedding!
As far as women in particular, though I became a nurse, my parents
never pushed me to more traditionally female vocations, nor did they
tell me I was smarter than that and could do better. Basically the only
thing they told me about my higher education was that I was either going
to have to get a job or a scholarship, because they couldn't help me.
And so I did both. I chose my major, being influenced by my high school
AP Bio class and my roommate Lisa Coudron (who was also in my AP Bio
class- we always studied together), who had decided to go into nursing
and was taking all of these classes that I really liked the sound of.
And thus I became a nursing major.
I can vote, I can own property (my credit score was better, so it
was my name on the title of our house until we refinanced), I can work
(I include "mother" and "homemaker" as work) as I see fit, I am as much
a person with rights as my husband is. I'm so glad to be in a time and
place where all this is true.
I still love to read Jane Austen, though!

Rae: The Westing Game

I finished The Westing Game this morning in bed. Ivan and I have an unofficial arrangement in the winter when it's so cold outside. I wake Bill up for school and Ivan takes him. So sometimes I can finish a book in bed. Believe me, after working full-time for so many years, I know what a luxury this is. I also know I have a good husband!

I enjoyed this fun little inheritance mystery very much. It had the flavor of an Agatha Christie. I read somewhere that Ellen Raskin wrote a mystery that pays homage to Sherlock Holmes. I might just have to try and find it. My love for mysteries came from reading Nancy Drew novels. I still remember the first ones that Mom gave me--as I recall she bought me three of them and gave them to me after she and Dad had been on vacation. I was so thrilled to have my OWN books. I would have been in fifth grade. They were just the best! I learned how to be prepared and independent from good old Nancy, Bess and George. Always keep extra food and emergency supplies in your vehicle!

I have read more than my share of romantic gothics, too. It used to just amaze me what the heroines would be willing to do...climb down creepy and dark stairwells, climb up into cobwebbed attics, go outside in a nightie looking for the ghostly apparitions...so funny but for some reason so satisfying in my teen years.

Lulu: You mention on your Goodread site how the Nancy Drew books have changed. Aren't they atrocious!?! I think the new ones came out about the same time as the Sweet Valley High books did and they were trying to compete. I've actually read three...just to see if they were all bad...as far as I know they are! Stick with the tried and true ones. I lived and breathed them for about five years straight. I can still visualize most of the covers! Wonderful stuff!

Happy reading!

Lynness: April read

    I read "Penny from Heaven" by Jennifer Holm yesterday (a 2007 Newbery Honor book, she also had a 2000 Newbery Honor book).  Set in 1953, it tells the story of an 11 year old girl who lost her father when she was a baby and her relationships with her mother's family and her father's Italian family.  It was a good story and well written, but the best part about it was that the characters and events were based on the author's own family and that it taught me something.  The main character, nicknamed Penny, is her mother.  Experiences and memories and family lore and the events of the 50's era were combined together fictionally to make the story flow, but the main context of the story was very real (as an event- this did not actually happen to the author's grandfather, although he did die while his wife was pregnant with their daughter, the author's mother) and what taught me something new:  Penny never knew how her father died- no one ever talked about it.  She eventually finds out that he was arrested during WWII as a spy and died in an internment camp.  I'll quote from the author's note:
    "The story of Penny's father is a hidden piece of American history.  During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Proclamation 2527, which designated six hundred thousand non-naturalized Italians "enemy aliens."  All "enemy aliens" of Italian descent were obliged to carry pink "enemy identification" booklets and turn in "contraband," including weapons, shortwave radios, cameras, and flashlights.  In addition, they were warned against speaking Italian, "the enemy's language."
    Many of these Italians were longstanding, respected community members and have American spouses and children.  Homes were searched, thousands arrested, and hundreds sent to internment camps.  All Italians on the West Coast were put on curfews and forced to move out of certain areas.  "Famed baseball player Joe DiMaggio's father was not permitted to fish off the coast of California and was even forbidden to go to his own son's restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco."
    It was actually not until 2000 when an exhibit by a chapter of the American Italian Historical Association brought national attention to this that the US government formally acknowledged these events.
    I knew this had happened with the Japanese during World War II, but had no idea about those of Italian descent.  I can't even imagine the government doing something like that today, even against people we are at war with.  (Although I can imagine some might like to try, but the public uproar would be too great, I would think).  I mean, they weren't even allowed to have flashlights?!?  Come on!
    What do you think?  Could something like this happen again in America?

Rae: Jessop

Bro Jessop has been named the head of the music department at Utah State University. I assume that was in the works before he left the Motabs. He said he wanted to do more teaching.

Thanks for the "wordy" poem. Maybe it will give me encouragement tomorrow as I write a couple of essays!

Happy reading!

Abby: Jessop & Thousand Splendid

Beccy, I have not read A Thousand Splendid Suns, sorry. But here's the link Eric's dad emailed me when Craig Jessop retired. Mack was named the "interim director" at first but then more recently, within the last two weeks, he was officially named as the new director.

Beccy: a poem about words

I loved the apostle poems! What a fun idea. Our primary children would appreciate those!

Here's one that you all will enjoy, being fellow-word lovers :) This poet has written some pretty clever poems (one I read in college was called "You Can't Write a Poem about McDonalds" but I can't find a copy of it.)

The Student Theme
Ronald Wallace

The adjectives all ganged up on the nouns,
insistent, loud, demanding, inexact,
their Latinate constructions flashing. The pronouns
lost their referents: They were dangling, lacked
the stamina to follow the prepositions' lead
in, on, into, to, toward, for, or from.
They were beset by passive voices and dead
metaphors, conjunctions shouting But! or And!

The active verbs were all routinely modified
by adverbs, that endlessly and colorlessly ran
into trouble with the participles sitting
on the margins knitting their brows like gerunds
(dangling was their problem, too). The author
was nowhere to be seen; was off somewhere.

Rae, I felt the same--that conference was especially marvelous. Sister Tanner is married to John Tanner at BYU, too. Did you know Elaine Dalton is a marathon runner?

Does anyone know what happened to Craig Jessop? I think it's really srange that he just disappeared. Usually the Church will recognize their service and "retirement" and at least thank them for their work. Troy said he heard at BYU from someone in the choir that Brother Jessop "quit."

I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns, and would love to discuss that one--has anyone else read it besides Rae and I? If so, what do you think?

I'm reading Peak by Roland Smith for April, at Curt's request. :)

Rae: April Read Etc

Oh, how I love you ladies!

Wasn't conference wonderful. I think it was the finest one I can remember in over a decade. I can echo Elder Holland's testimony and witness of seeing and feeling the prophetic mantle fall upon President Monson. Our stake president had challenged us in ward conference, two weeks ago, to pray for a witness of him as a prophet. We did so as a family, but quite honestly I didn't expect anything to happen because I already felt that I had a witness of him as a prophet. When Elder Uchtdorf (isn't he wonderful?) began to tell a little of the historical significance of the sustaining process, I was overcome by emotion and just really struck by the grandness of the whole thing. It was a really sweet experience. I won't go any further, since this is after all a public blog, but just wanted y'all to know that I know he's a prophet of God. I can hardly wait for the talks to come out in the Ensign! FYI: Annie is in Hinesville now and was thrilled to be able to watch all four sessions.

Another FYI: the version of "Hie to Kolob" we heard is in the old (pre 1985) hymn books. It was the version I grew up with before it was replaced by the Ralph V Williams music. I really like it. The man who wrote the music was the first tabernacle organist. Also, Sis Tanner's parents are Richard and Barbara Winder. She was a general RS president when I was in college, I think. Or high school. Does anyone know who Chery Lant's parents are?

Enough of the conference tidbits. My April read will be The Westing Game. I know that most of you have probably read this already. Maddie and Chela begged me to read it and I never took the time. So now I will. I was surprised by how many of the books on the list I had already read. And how the subject matter and types of books have changed over the years. I'm sensing that y'all are having fun reading over the list too.

On a side note to Abby and Lulu: Goodreads.com is addictive and I'm just having too much fun with it! I think I have all but the most of my books online now. I still keep track of my books manually (mostly because I enjoy doing it) but it's nice to have a third backup! I think we should all be linked to it! Thanks for inviting me to be your friends...

Happy reading!

Rae: Poems

Here are a few of my favorite poems:

The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

by Wendell Berry

The Middle Daughter
If you threw her in the water
she would float upstream.
What if baby Moses had floated upstream,
bobbing toward Lake Victoria in his bullrush boat,
passing the transfixed laundry women,
leaving them behind in a wake of amazement?
What would have become of the children of Israel?
This middle daughter forgets,
there is always history.

Show her white, she sees black.
The problem is her vision.
From infancy she has thrown off
every color we wrapped her in:
first the pink, contemptuous,
and later even the blue, for reasons
we hadn't the nerve to be thankful for.
She wants to wear red, or nothing.
And you should see her with her red shirt
flapping on her spindle body
like some solo flag,
marching up the river,
leading the salmon to slaughter.
She says they aren't really dying.
She says something is born of swimming upstream
that finds its way back to the sea
and spreads like a grassfire through the seaweed
across the floor of underwater continents
and finally comes back to the very same river,
not one, but a thousand fish,
a generation of fish.
This middle daughter believes
she will make history.

by Barbara Kingsolver (when she signed her book for me she inscribed it to me as a middle daughter...I am one and can really identify with this poem.)

Christmas in Utah
In barns turned from the wind
the quarter-horses
twitch their laundered blankets.
Three Steller's Jays,
crests sharp as ice,
bejewel the pine tree.
Rough cold out of Idaho
bundles irrational tumbleweed
the length of Main Street.

Higher than snowpeaks,
shriller than the frost,
a brazen angel blows his silent trumpet.

by Leslie Norris

Lynness and poetry

Liz- I enjoyed laughing at the chocolate cake poem...
and speaking of poetry, I started a family blog and Dad (Jon Hawkes) posted this on it...

I've never blogged nothin' so don't 'spect too much
But we'll enjoy knowin' what goes on at your hutch
We'll read it with vigor, We'll read it with vim
We'll read till our eyes grow weary and dim
Send us your news 'cause we're anxious to know
'Bout all of your comin' and all of your go
'Tis a marv'lous invention, this thing called a blog
Sure I'll figure it out, though my mind's all agog!

PS, the actual URL of our blog is http://hawkes.freeshell.org/blog/

As for some of my poems (I've written many bad ones, some that I like but aren't anything great, and a very few that I really think are good), I just put them up on our family website.  (I don't know how it will format if I email it to the blog, since I scanned the sketchbook pages that I write in.)  Here's the link- I put it up quickly- I'll reformat it later to be pretty....

As for Newberry books- I'm surprised at how many of the books I grew up with were Newberry books- I never knew.  I checked out Pennies from Heaven to give it a try, but haven't opened it yet.  I'm still in the middle of several others!

Liz on poetry

Hi!

I've discovered lately how much creating poetry is an outlet for me. I hope all of you have certain outlets that fulfill you as much. I woke up yesterday and had a poem in mind seconds later, and I wrote it down quickly while I was in my closet. I also came up with one in the shower today. Over the last few days I have made up several. I've emailed a lot of them to Mom, Dad, and my sisters, but I will post one here that I came up with this evening. Earlier today, the boys & I were laughing really hard about some limericks with a stinky smell as the subject. I know, it's very silly and boyish, but it feels so healthy sometimes to just be silly . . . with my boys, too. And you all know boys. :)

Well, on second thought, I'm going to post a "stinky" poem, as well as the other "set of limericks" that I wrote this evening:

Somebody had a bad stink,
But who it was we couldn't think.
The smell was quite brazen,
Like a bad rotten raisin,
Til Mom washed the babe in the sink!

Allen Blake and the Chocolate Cake

Ever since Allen Blake's youth,
He's had one very sweet tooth.
He loves to eat sweets
And all sorts of treats
We all do, to tell you the truth.

When we couldn't find Allen Blake,
Or locate the chocolate cake,
We found them both later
In the 'frigerator!
Then he knew he'd made a mistake!

You see, without cake, we were sad!
Some of us even got mad.
But we soon forgave him
And reached in to save him.
After all, Allen Blake is our dad.

It made me laugh all over again to type these!

I think about all of you often!
I love all of you, and hope you enjoyed Conference weekend. Love,
Liz

Abby: My April Read & Poetry

It's been fun to look through the Newbery Award Winners looking for something to read this month. So many of these books bring back memories. And it's interesting to note the difference in the types of books nominated over the years.

For this month, I've decided to read The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong which won the Newbery Award in 1955. I don't know anything about but seem to remember hearing something that made me remember I want to read it.

I didn't read a whole lot for March's poetry, but I did revisit some fun Ogden Nash poems. And over the last couple of days I've been enjoying emails from Liz with funny poems and limericks. Liz, you should post some here.

In the spirit of poetry, but not really the same...I wanted to share something I think about quite often. One year in primary, Mom & Dad taught one of the classes and did a sharing time where they told a story to help us remember the order of the Apostles by seniority. I can't remember all of it. Based on what I can remember, I've recreated it for you adding things when I couldn't remember what should've been there. It went something like this and included pictures on a poster board:

The Hunter Hinckley got caught in a monsoon. He packed a feast of pears and slid down a hat. (And this next part comes out of nowhere because I can't remember the connection between the two.) Max fell into a well and started singing a ballad. Then he tossed a rope around some nails in an oak and began to climb. His brother Wirthlin called down, "Hurry up! Great Scott! It's starting to hail!"

Mom, do you remember how it really went?

Since then, I've tried several times to come up with stories to help me remember all the Apostles. I haven't been very successful but as I've been plugging away at it, the names have stuck in my mind anyway. And it's always fun to try.

For quite some time I've remembered them by simply saying, "Packer and Perry hate Maxwell. Nails in oaks. Ballard. Worthless Scott hails Holland's eye-ring." Not very poetic...not very nice...but it was working.

So with all the recent changes, I set to work again. Here's what I came up with. I'd love to hear what you can come up with too! This is still not as good as the one Mom & Dad made for primary.
Dearest Auntie,
I've moved because I got a new job! The packers will send everything tomorrow. Now I am only two hours from you and my beloved Perry (Paris). I even got to bring my tabby Nelson along! I arrived yesterday and took a walk among the oaks along the river. It was beautiful! While I was out, I met the most charming man. His name is Ballard. He owns a business and would you believe it's worth a million?! And you know the company - SCOTT tissue! He hails from Holland and is so funny. He's kind of klutzy so he wears an eye-ring (pince-nez) to keep him from tripping and calling out, "Oock!" "Dorf!"
Anyway, I have to go to Bed now. I'll tell you more when I come cook from you next Sunday!
Love,
D. Christofferson

Beccy on poetry

Leslie Norris is a favorite poet. I took a beginner poetry class from him at BYU. Isn't that remarkable in an of itself? I marvel when I think of the wonderful minds that BYU has exposed me to. Including Mack Wilberg and Ronald Staheli in the music world. But I digress. (Already!) Anyway, I was looking online for some of his poetry that I could share, and found a quote by him to share, instead. He said in an interview,

"Poetry is a useless craft really. You don't make any money. But it's a great craft. You create worlds. The Scottish word for poet is 'maker.' So is the Greek word."

I thought that was a non-pretentious comment. An it's an attractive idea to me that a poet creates a world, even if it's a small poem-world.

In looking through favorite poems of mine, I realized that I have many favorite poems, but not many favorite poets. Usually, like Lynness or Rae said, there is just one or two of a poet's poems that really speaks to me.

If I can find time to do it, I will post a few short favorites or excerpts later.

Lynness: March poetry

Well, I read a couple hundred Emily Dickinson poems. I don't mind taking poetry apart, but I didn't exactly do that this time, since I'm not being graded. As I read I wrote down poems I liked as a whole as well as phrases or images I really liked and thoughts I had...

Overall stylistically, I like that she uses lots of dashes- I use them myself. I like that she makes up words or finds new ways to use them- which I also like to do. And I also like that she breaks up phrases or thoughts wherever she likes (not that I would choose the same places, though).

Some of her poetry seems a little overwrought, others seem like they start with a good idea and then don't exactly know how to finish. I am indifferent to quite a lot of them, but find some I really enjoy. I find many can be distilled down to a single truth, such as "the expectation is the worst part" or that "only fear keeps us from achieving heights." (But then it wouldn't be poetry!) I do think you have to be in the right mood to enjoy her.

Here's one I have on my mind...

A shady friend for torrid days
Is easier to find
Than one of higher temperature
for frigid hour of mind.

The vane a little to the east
scares muslin souls away;
If broadcloth breast are firmer
than those of organdy,

Who is to blame? The weaver?
Ah! The bewildering thread!
The tapestries of paradise
so notelessly are made!


I really like the part of this one that I bolded. The image that made me take notice and read it again is "muslin souls." I think that the juxtaposition of textiles and the degree of substance in a friendship is truly original and works really well. I've been thinking about friendship- just last Sunday I heard a definition of a friend as "someone who meets you outside of your usual place." That rang true to me- I have 'friends' I see only at church or at storytime, etc.. When I taught about David and Jonathan, a quote stuck with me to the effect that a friend is willing to take you as they find you, but leave you better. A true friend wants you to be better, but doesn't get after you about working on it. What kind of friend am I? I know I'm a better friend from the example of one of my best friends in particular. She is my age and has a husband in school (who also works and is in the national guard) and 3 young kids (and one on the way) and homeschools. If anyone doesn't have time to help others, it's her. But she is ALWAYS sewing a blanket for someone, watching an extra kid, making a meal for a sick friend (it's been me a few times),...etc.. She constantly thinks about how to help those in need. Definitely not a 'muslin soul.'

An image I enjoyed... "you cannot fold a flood/and put it in a drawer"

These 4 lines I like... "Two lengths has every day/its absolute extent-/and area superior/by hope or heaven lent."
Some thoughts: I have the same 24 hours as you or anyone else. What am I doing to make them worth more to me than what they might otherwise be? Also: Einstein says time is relative. He could prove it quantitatively. I know it in a qualitative way. What is longer than a week when you're overdue? What is shorter than a week when you're on vacation? An hour creeps in the doctor's waiting room, but is barely enough time to get anything done when that's all the nap the baby will take!!

This one just makes me smile:

I send two Sunsets--
Day and I in competition ran,
I finished two, and several stars,
while He was making one.

His own is ampler--
but, as I was saying to a friend,
mine is the more convenient
to carry in the hand.

(poem sent with brilliant flowers)

These two are more famous and you can find deconstructions of them on the web, but I just like them.

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us-- don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

and

The brain is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side
The one the other will include
With ease, and you beside.

The brain is deeper than the sea,
For, hold them, blue to blue,
The one the other will absorb,
As sponges, buckets do.

The brain is just the weight of God,
For, lift them, pound for pound,
And they will differ, if they do,
As syllable from sound.